It will be up to aerospace firms vying to supply Canada with new search-and-rescue aircraft to decide where such planes are to be located – a process that raises questions about private companies deciding the country’s defence policy and where military staff are located.

The Department of National Defence has confirmed that bids for the $3-billion search-and-rescue aircraft project will not only include details about the planes being offered but also where they are to be based. Officials inside the department privately concede the end result could be a foreign company telling the Canadian Forces where to situate its planes and people.

Industry representatives and defence analysts also say the new acquisition process could see the winning firm propose closing down one of the military’s existing search-and-rescue facilities or requiring a new installation to be constructed elsewhere in the country, such as in the Arctic.

“The procurement strategy changed from a platform-based procurement to a capability-based procurement in which industry will be required to propose the type of aircraft, the number of aircraft and the number of bases required to meet the level of service,” stated an email sent by DND.

Another DND email stated that the government will determine which industry proposals are sufficient to meet the needs of the country, while providing value to taxpayers.

Defence analyst Martin Shadwick said the unprecedented procurement process could cause problems. “What happens if a company proposes shutting down a current (search-and-rescue) location?” asked Shadwick, a York University professor. “Or what happens if the government likes a certain aircraft being proposed but doesn’t like that company’s proposal on where to base those planes?”

It is also unclear who pays for the costs of any new search-and-rescue installation that industry might propose.

Firms such as Alenia Aermacchi, Airbus Military, Lockheed Martin and Viking Air have all expressed interest in the project.

Dominique Spragg of Viking Air said the company can’t comment until it sees the final request for bids issued by government. But he acknowledged that the initial request focused on areas “normally the purview of government.”

An official with Airbus Military added that companies are in “unchartered territory” on some of the requirements.

Stephanie Stinn, a spokeswoman at Lockheed Martin, said the firm believes the number of bases should be equal or better than the current situation.

Ben Stone, president of Alenia Aermacchi North America, acknowledged he had not previously seen a situation where the firm was being asked where to locate aircraft. But he added that because of the range and capability of the firm’s C-27J aircraft, no new bases would be required.

“We can leverage that infrastructure that is already in place,” he said. “And we don’t have any added cost of needing to establish another base in the North because our aircraft can get to the northern points on time since we’re faster and we have the range.”

The current main locations for military fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft are Comox, B.C., Trenton, Ont., Greenwood, N.S., and Winnipeg.

In an email, DND stated that a request for industry to submit bids is expected to be released in the coming months.

But NDP defence critic Jack Harris said the procurement plan makes no sense. He noted the military and federal government, and not private companies, are best placed to decide where such important aviation equipment should be located.

The new planes are to replace the current fleet of 40-year-old Buffalo aircraft and older Hercules planes.